2012
Barrão: Mashups
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: Mónica Ramírez-Montagut
This is the US first solo exhibition of the work of Brazilian artist Barrão, who is known for his whimsical and quite bizarre ceramic clusters and mashups made from fragments of popular vitreous porcelain and clay objects. The artist scouts second-hand stores, flea markets, and dumpsters in search of materials for sculptures that subvert the original function or idea of the object in order to reveal unpredictable relationships, ranging from unexpected similarities to unseemly contradictions. The free-spirited juxtaposition of the different ceramic sources establishes new sets of relationships between the parts. Every element in the sculpture is free from its previous function and comes together with the other parts to form a new identity, one that escapes immediate commodification. With his sculptures, Barrão appropriates everyday domestic objects that were used indiscriminately and inserts them back into circulation with an ample balance of presence and mystery—and a history yet to be written.
Jim Dingilian: Subtractive Images
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: Richard Klein
For the past decade, Jim Dingilian has developed work influenced by photography in which he painstakingly renders ephemeral imagery by hand onto found objects. This exhibition brings together three groups of objects that the artist has modified by subtraction—the careful erasure or removal of material—to produce optically realistic representations. Using old wooden school desktops whose surfaces he has covered entirely with pencil, Dingilian "draws" atmospheric landscapes by erasing the graphite; repurposing empty glass bottles, the artist smokes their interior with candle soot, and then through a process of delicate scraping depicts the frontiers of suburbia where such discarded bottles might be found; and utilizing aluminum beer and soda cans, Dingilian folds, polishes, scratches, and sands their surfaces to create objects that reference nineteenth-century daguerreotype portraits. Dingilian's use of worn and abject materials amplifies photography's tenuous role in capturing memory. This is the artist's first solo museum exhibition.
Roy McMakin: Middle
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: Richard Klein
Roy McMakin's love affair with furniture began when he was child. Haunting flea markets and garage sales, he collected used chairs, tables, and other items, subsequently transforming them with paint or carpentry into new and ideal forms. For Middle, McMakin has returned to his formative influences, creating a new body of work that utilizes selected pieces from the small collection of used furniture that he purchased as a young man, as well as pieces from his family's home. The title of the exhibition refers both to the fact that McMakin is the middle of three children and to his approach to working with this group of furniture: selective sections (the "middle") of each object will be cut out, altered, and thoughtfully returned. McMakin has had one-person exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Portland Art Museum, Oregon. This is his first solo museum exhibition on the east coast.
Regina Silveira: In Absentia (Collection)
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: Mónica Ramírez-Montagut
For her installation at The Aldrich, renowned Brazilian artist Regina Silveira will present a series titled In Absentia (Collection), comprised of empty pedestals that project the shadows of the well-known masterpieces they should be supporting. The giant shadows that will completely take over the gallery space are the recognizable Duchamp wheel, the Man Ray household iron with nails, and Meret Oppenheim's furry cup; an empty ceiling hook will project the shadow of a Calder mobile. The artist is known for playing with shadows and how they may or may not coincide with the original object. By doing so, she reveals hidden meanings behind the works and their interpretation. At The Aldrich, Silveira will present a collection of non-artworks in an institution that lacks a permanent collection.
Kathryn Spence: Dirty and Clean
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: Mónica Ramírez-Montagut
San Francisco-based artist Kathryn Spence is inspired by the dichotomy of "dirty and clean" in the production of her work. She piles, layers, and transforms previously used objects (or trash) to create lifelike animals and intriguing structures that she then brings into the clean environment of the museum. Spence's nuanced, obsessive, and busy gathering of dirty materials has its counterpart in the way she impeccably reorganizes them until, given their pristine order and intense classification, they are rendered clean. Similar care is placed on the presentation of the creatures she portrays. An avid bird watcher and lover of nature, Spence is capable of distinguishing particular species from miles away. Her owls, coyotes, butterflies, and birds—albeit made of left-over materials and scraps—present clear and distinct personalities and identities with incredible exactitude.
Xu Bing: Tobacco Project
January 29 to June 10, 2012
Reception: January 29, 2012
Curator: John B. Ravenal, Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Xu Bing: Tobacco Project explores the production and culture of tobacco as seen through the eyes of one of China's most important contemporary artists. The artist visited tobacco farms, warehouses, and cigarette factories in Virginia to create the work for this exhibition, which is one of his most ambitious undertakings, spanning twelve years of research and production. Xu Bing's interest in "tobacco culture" extends to the historical impact of China's large-scale importation of tobacco products from the United States, which began in the late nineteenth century. By revealing the complex connections between people and tobacco, his project ultimately alludes to fundamental issues of human culture and of tobacco as a medium of social exchange. Xu Bing: Tobacco Project is a traveling exhibition organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Appropriately, given Connecticut's history of tobacco production, this will be its only presentation in the northeast.
